A-26 Invader Units of World War 2
Overview
This book, by Jim Roeder, all around is a good addition to an Invader enthusiast's library. Overall, it paints a good picture of the background and development of the Invader and its use in WWWI, specifically. The book is thorough and thoughtful and logically arranged. It covers many aspects of the Invader that are of interest to the general reader. My main criticism of this work is that anyone who is attempting to use this book as a source for serious historical research approach it with a grain of salt as there are numerous errors throughout the book. These errors aren't the kind of thing that would detract a general reader from enjoying the book, but they may be obstacles in research-based interests. In the sake of trying to point out these issues, I have made a list of the errors in the book below, along with the actual corrections.
Versions & Editions
The book I have in my collection is the 1st Edition of this book, copyright 2010. It features the plane "Sugar Baby" on the cover. I have seen a 2nd version of this cover in one place, but I have not seen a second edition of this book, so I am unsure if this other cover was a prototype mockup or an intended 2nd edition. Every book seller that carries the book only seems to have the 1st Edition available.
Corrections
I will be going through the book in order by page. Many of the corrections are with the photo captions, and I will try to point these out specifically.
Pg 6 - Bottom photo - just a minor correction here. What is being referred to as "engine nacelles" are actually "engine cowlings".
Pg 7 - Top photo - The caption implies that the Invader was the first American medium bomber to feature a single pilot, but the Invader's immediate predecessor, the A-20 Havoc/Boston also featured a single pilot.
Pg 8 - Bottom photo - The caption talks about the "heavy framing" of the window reducing visibility. However, the cockpit style shown here is the Generation 2 cockpit that was introduced as a way to improve visibility. (He references this in the top photo caption on Page 9). The "heavy framed" window that reduced visibility was this, Generation 1 cockpit canopy.
